So... The most wanted man on the planet is dead.The man was responsible for thousands upon thousands of innocent lives, men, women, and children. He was the figure head of an sick extremism than swept through part of the islamic world. Of course the news of his death has been met with much relief right across the world. Much praise must be given to President Obama - who during a 2008 political debate promised "We will kill Bin Laden" - and of course the US special forces who managed to find and kill possibly the most elusive individual ever known. In a way I'm glad that he was killed and not captured as being captured, prosecuted and either imprisoned or executed would increase a feeling of martyrdom amongst his followers.
We are however being asked to remain ever vigilant against the threat of terror. The Foreign Office has urged Britons overseas to "exercise caution in all public places and avoid demonstrations, large crowds of people and public events". This advise seems appropriate as Al-Qaeda will inevitably be plotting revenge and the results of which have the potential to be catastrophic. It was only last week that classified files released from the WikiLeaks website revealed that the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, warned that Al-Qaeda has hidden a nuclear bomb in Europe which will unleash a "nuclear hellstorm" if Osama Bin Laden was captured or killed. For the sake of world peace I sincerely hope that this was a smoke screen aimed at holding off the US special forces closing in on Bin Laden. I cannot even fathom the results if it's true...Regardless, whenever the head of a large organisation is 'no longer' there is always a replacement ready to step in and I doubt this will be any different. That is not to say that Bin Laden's death will not have a profound affect on the hierarchy and psyche of the Al-Qaeda. Looking at the bigger picture however, I really doubt that the events of today will loose Al-Qaeda many followers or weaken them much as a force. It seems to me that today may turn out to be more of a symbolic victory than anything else. Of course there is much that goes on behind the scenes that we know little about - the actual intelligence that led to his death for example. I guess only time will tell how important today turns out to be...
One thing is for sure however, the worlds most feared man is dead and that fact alone should bring joy to the world. Well done to all involved. We are all eternally grateful...
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